Celebration - 8 day ABC late port departure times

[TexasJohn82]

Good day folks,

 

We are on the 8 day ABC cruise for Celebration next month and I was wondering if anyone had any experience as to what happens in the late hours on the Aruba and Bonaire days.  The planner says they depart the port at 10PM, what is the normal time to be back onboard?  Do dinner services/shows/casino still operate as normal or do they wait until they depart?  Do most people stay off the entire time?

 

This will be our first with late ports so was looking for past experiences from others!

 

Thanks in advance!

[Itried4498]

It'll be "business as usual" onboard.  The entertainment program may be a bit lighter, and headlining events are generally not scheduled on late nights.  Production show staff will be given one or both nights off.

 

Retail shops and the casino are always closed while Carnival is in-port.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Itried4498

[lesters]

In Aruba on our ABC cruise last year we had a late departure as well.  We took full advantage - full morning by the beach, lunch, checked out a local casino - SOOO NICE.  Then back back on board for a snack and a nap,  then the sunset catamaran excursion and then we ate a late supper.  It was one of my favorite port days ever.

[skrufy]

2 hours ago, TexasJohn82 said:

Good day folks,

 

We are on the 8 day ABC cruise for Celebration next month and I was wondering if anyone had any experience as to what happens in the late hours on the Aruba and Bonaire days.  The planner says they depart the port at 10PM, what is the normal time to be back onboard?  Do dinner services/shows/casino still operate as normal or do they wait until they depart?  Do most people stay off the entire time?

 

This will be our first with late ports so was looking for past experiences from others!

 

Thanks in advance!

Back on board is usually on all Carnival cruises is 30 minutes before sailing. But always check the time due back on board when going ashore.

[BabyJacks17]

I was on the Celebration 8 day cruise a few weeks ago and as previously said it was business as usual.

 

The one thing I do remember is that the big "Circus" show that has the high flying aerialist was shown 3 different times during the week - and then a 4th date they had only the music from the show but were saying it was songs from the Greatest Showman - so with all this said, I have to assume one of the days this fell on would have been a port day for Aruba/Bonaire.

 

I will say that Aruba is the busier port with more actives that kept people off a bit longer but by 8pm it felt like a normal evening minus still being in port while at dinner.

 

They did open up the Casino earlier while still in port in both Aruba and Bonaire so that could also be a factor in why things felt semi-normal even though it was a long port day.

[mz-s]

On my Southern Caribbean (not an ABC as our stops were Aruba, Curacao, La Romana and Amber Cove) cruise on Freedom in 2021, our late port was Curacao. What we did was get off early and do our excursions, then go back onboard for supper. We got back off for a late night jaunt around the port area before sailaway.

 

It really is special to be at port on a cruise ship in the evening. Especially a port like Curacao or Aruba that is generally safe and beautiful with lots to do even at night.

 

Curacao at night:

 

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by mz-s

[BoozinCroozin]

We are on that in June. We have a Jeep rented. We plan to return it by 7PM, taxi back to the port area, and visit things right around there or just get back on the ship. Since no drinks while driving in a foreign country, I will probably just head back on about 8PM, shower, and have a fun evening. There is a show that night at 9:15, but nothing else really scheduled. It will be casino, club, and bar night.

 

[lesters]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

On my Southern Caribbean (not an ABC as our stops were Aruba, Curacao, La Romana and Amber Cove) cruise on Freedom in 2021, our late port was Curacao. What we did was get off early and do our excursions, then go back onboard for supper. We got back off for a late night jaunt around the port area before sailaway.

 

It really is special to be at port on a cruise ship in the evening. Especially a port like Curacao or Aruba that is generally safe and beautiful with lots to do even at night.

 

Curacao at night:

 

 

Ohhh now I need to find an itinerary that has Curacao with a late BOB.  We had a very rainy - very very rainy flooding the town kind of day here.  Still had a wonderful time but would love to go back and this picture at night is incredible!!! 

[Illbcruzn4life]

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

On my Southern Caribbean (not an ABC as our stops were Aruba, Curacao, La Romana and Amber Cove) cruise on Freedom in 2021, our late port was Curacao. What we did was get off early and do our excursions, then go back onboard for supper. We got back off for a late night jaunt around the port area before sailaway.

 

It really is special to be at port on a cruise ship in the evening. Especially a port like Curacao or Aruba that is generally safe and beautiful with lots to do even at night.

 

Curacao at night:

 

 

awesome shot of Curacao. We were on the bridge twice while it opened to allow boats past but were never there at night. Been there about 3 times on cruises. One of our favorite ports.

[mz-s]

9 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

awesome shot of Curacao. We were on the bridge twice while it opened to allow boats past but were never there at night. Been there about 3 times on cruises. One of our favorite ports.

 

Since we were there at night, lots of boats that were out in the bay during the day came in as dusk turned to night and so the bridge opened quite often.

 

The ABC Islands are really amazing, frankly if every cruise I went on from here on out stopped only at the ABC islands you wouldn't hear a peep of complaint out of me.

[mz-s]

10 hours ago, lesters said:

Ohhh now I need to find an itinerary that has Curacao with a late BOB.  We had a very rainy - very very rainy flooding the town kind of day here.  Still had a wonderful time but would love to go back and this picture at night is incredible!!! 

 

Sadly most of the ABC itins I've seen lately don't have Curacao as the late port. I am not sure why or what made things different in 2021 other than COVID restrictions (this was still during the sip and cover cruise era where you never had to wait for an elevator because the ships were basically empty).

 

It was one of the best Carnival cruises my wife and I have been on.

[d-train]

14 hours ago, BabyJacks17 said:

I was on the Celebration 8 day cruise a few weeks ago and as previously said it was business as usual.

 

The one thing I do remember is that the big "Circus" show that has the high flying aerialist was shown 3 different times during the week - and then a 4th date they had only the music from the show but were saying it was songs from the Greatest Showman - so with all this said, I have to assume one of the days this fell on would have been a port day for Aruba/Bonaire.

 

I will say that Aruba is the busier port with more actives that kept people off a bit longer but by 8pm it felt like a normal evening minus still being in port while at dinner.

 

They did open up the Casino earlier while still in port in both Aruba and Bonaire so that could also be a factor in why things felt semi-normal even though it was a long port day.

 

What were your elegant nights on your sailing? We are doing the 8 day ABC on Celebration next summer...

 

Thanks!!

 

[TexasJohn82]

16 hours ago, BabyJacks17 said:

I was on the Celebration 8 day cruise a few weeks ago and as previously said it was business as usual.

 

The one thing I do remember is that the big "Circus" show that has the high flying aerialist was shown 3 different times during the week - and then a 4th date they had only the music from the show but were saying it was songs from the Greatest Showman - so with all this said, I have to assume one of the days this fell on would have been a port day for Aruba/Bonaire.

 

I will say that Aruba is the busier port with more actives that kept people off a bit longer but by 8pm it felt like a normal evening minus still being in port while at dinner.

 

They did open up the Casino earlier while still in port in both Aruba and Bonaire so that could also be a factor in why things felt semi-normal even though it was a long port day.

Was it pretty easy to get off/on throughout the nighttime hours?  This will be our first Celebration cruise period so not sure if it is easy to get on off anyhow!

[BabyJacks17]

On 6/8/2023 at 8:46 AM, d-train said:

 

What were your elegant nights on your sailing? We are doing the 8 day ABC on Celebration next summer...

 

Thanks!!

 

Sorry for delayed response - our formal nights were Sunday and Friday.

[BabyJacks17]

On 6/8/2023 at 10:16 AM, TexasJohn82 said:

Was it pretty easy to get off/on throughout the nighttime hours?  This will be our first Celebration cruise period so not sure if it is easy to get on off anyhow!

Yes! Absolutely.  We spent more time off in the evening in Aruba as there is more to do in the immediate vicinity that the port is in than we did in Bonaire but no issues whatsoever coming/going as your time allows.